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>> Another blow for Angela Merkel's reelection prospects. The Chancellor's veteran finance minister jumping to the defense of her conservative sister party, in the latest twist, in a dispute over migrants. Merkel's Christian Democrats and the Bavarian Christian Social Union have spent the last year at loggerheads. And time is running out for the Chancellor to secure their crucial support, according to Reuters special correspondent for Europe, Noah Barkin.

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>> In December, she is expected to make a decision on whether she runs again. In order to do that, she needs to have the Christian Social Union, her Bavarian allies, on board. Their leader, Horst Seehofer, has been extremely critical of Merkel's refugee policies. He's been pushing for a cap on the number of refugees allowed into Germany each year.

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He's pushing for a cap of 200,000. Merkel has rejected that.>> Some blame Seehofer's attacks on Merkel's open door refugee policy for a poor result in last week's Berlin state election. But finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, defends the CSU leader in a magazine article published on Thursday. He says, it's an outrage to insinuate that the Bavarian premier is against the dignified treatment of refugees.

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Schauble could be the CDU candidate for Chancellor, should Merkel decide not to run in 2017. So far he's brushed off questions over whether he wants the job.